Czech Republic rider Mario Jirout has been axed by Newcastle after just five appearances.

But Diamonds' bosses are keen to emphasise it has nothing to do with the outrageous slagging given to him by Sheffield promoter Neil Machin.

Newcastle co-promoter Darryl Illingworth, who dramatically took over from George English as team manager for last night's return Premier Trophy match against Sheffield, announced the decision after the latest Diamonds' defeat, 51-42, at Brough Park.

Illingworth said: "Just three points at Berwick on Saturday and another three against Sheffield sealed Mario's fate as it's not the sort of scoring we expect from a number one rider.

"Mario told us he needed more time to get his confidence back but time is something we do not have in this business when we are not even winning our home matches."

Ironically, Kristian Lund, the Dane chosen by the Newcastle promoters to replace Jirout, was a victim of a similar scenario a year ago when his efforts did not match up to the nine-point assessed average he was given and the Diamonds reluctantly axed him, too.

Illingworth pulled no punches in a changing-room talk with his riders before last night's match.

Kevin Little was relieved of the captaincy, which was passed on to Richard Juul.

He has been the only Newcastle rider to show good form in every match so far this season.

Illingworth added: "After the disgraceful performance at Berwick, where we were hammered 66-27, our riders needed a good talking-to and someone to shout at them so I took on the team manager's job for one night only."

Against top opposition like Sheffield, the Diamonds provided only four race winners but battled hard to share the points in eight of the first 12 heats.

Jamie Robertson, Juul and Lee Smethills took the chequered flag and the latter's superb last lap overtake of Ben Wilson in heat nine won loud acclaim.

A 5-1 from Sean Wilson and ex-Newcastle skipper Andre Compton in heat 13 put Sheffield 10 ahead so Smethills came out for a double-points ride in the next and won it.

But Compton and Sean Wilson simply repeated their excellent gating in heat 15 to seal the win with a 5-1 over Juul and Little.